Ivanauskas ready to ring the changes once more

HEARTS boss Valdas Ivanauskas today warned supporters to expect more chopping and changing to his starting line-up despite grinding out a win which ended the Jambos' four-year Fir Park hoodoo.

Four Lithuanians made it into his side to face Motherwell yesterday, Saul Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis, Andrius Velicka and Marius Zaliukas all taking their place in a new-look team featuring six changes from the one that faced Sparta Prague just three days previously.

Robbie Neilson found himself on the bench while Bruno Aguiar, Mirsad Beslija, Mauricio Pinilla and Christophe Berra dropped out altogether and Roman Bednar was missing through suspension.

Ivanauskas admitted that he would love to field an unchanged side week in, week out, but insisted that injuries and the pressure of the number of games his side are expected to play this season will dictate his line-up.

He said: "We want to play every week with a similar team but when you have had hard games like the one against Sparta Prague then you have a lot of players who maybe need rested and also we have a lot of players injured.

"It was necessary to change it. We know that players are going to need rested because they have been playing constantly since August and hopefully we have a big enough squad to cope with that."

It would appear that Jamie Mole is becoming an increasingly important part of that squad, the 18-year-old striker having started the last five matches for the Tynecastle outfit.

He put in another lung-bursting shift yesterday as he and his team-mates battled hard for the points and hit his second goal of the campaign. Ivanauskas was full of praise for the youngster and revealed that his hard work and attitude in training had helped him forced his way into the top team. He continued: "It was good for Jamie and good for his confidence. He is only a young boy but I thought that he did very well for us. It would have been normal if his head had gone down because he knew the striker situation but he has worked very hard to come into the team and he worked very hard against Motherwell.

"To get a goal is good for him, but for me, the way he worked to get this scoreline for the club was more important."

Meanwhile, Ivanauskas admitted it was a huge relief to get back to winning ways after losing their last two games against St Mirren and Sparta Prague - and to earn their first victory in four years at Fir Park.

Hearts' last win over the Steelmen on their own patch was back in March 2002 when goals from Scott Severin and Robert Sloan gave them a 2-1 triumph and the head coach was delighted to finally bring that run to an end: "After the big pressure of the last few weeks and after the bad game against Sparta Prague it was a relief. It was an important three points and how we got them doesn't matter, it is the result that matters. I thought that we showed spirit and fight and we played as a team and that was very important for me.

"Before the game I spoke to the players about how difficult it would be, we had not won at Fir Park for four years and they are a strong team and I think my players listened and responded in the right way."

There was good news for Ivanauskas today as Deividas Cesnauskis, who was stretchered off at Fir Park, is expected to be available for Wednesday night's CIS Cup clash with Alloa, and he added: "At first we thought that it did not look too good, but I have spoken with the physio and it is not as serious as we feared."

Taken from the Scotsman